


Not-So-Evil GOOs, Polymorph Potions, and Other Homebrewed Things

by dreamingKatfish



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Other, Panic Attacks, Saihara Shuichi has a dog, SaiouWE2019, Temporary Character Death, dungeons and dragons!AU, treating learning that you died like a breakup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23087191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingKatfish/pseuds/dreamingKatfish
Summary: Saihara is a warlock and a detective, he doesn't remember how he ended up on Jabberwock Island. But he's here, and right now he's trying to solve a case that quite frankly has him rather stumped. But hey if anyone can solve it, it's Saihara.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Tojo Kirumi/Harukawa Maki/Iruma Miu, Chabashira Tenko/Yonaga Angie/Yumeno Himiko, Gokuhara Gonta/Hoshi Ryoma, Iruma Miu/Tojo Kirumi, Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto, Momota Kaito/Shinguji Korekiyo, Naegi Komaru & Naegi Makoto, Naegi Komaru & Naegi Makoto & Saihara Shuichi, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Saihara Shuichi/Original Female Character (past)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29
Collections: SaiOu Winter Exchange 2019





	Not-So-Evil GOOs, Polymorph Potions, and Other Homebrewed Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DebonaireFrogs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DebonaireFrogs/gifts).



> So this is for the winter exchange using the prompt of "A creature of the deep au- With Kokichi or Saihara being a sea monster but a friendly one." I kind of took that idea and ran with it, making Ouma into a water naga. There's a brief character death, though it doesn't go into too much detail and the character it's for has a panic attack after realizing they died. So fair share of warning, I hope it isn't too angsty to have that. Either way, hey DebonaireFrogs, hope you enjoy this, I had a lot of fun making it.

Shouting. There was so much damn shouting for him to solve this case. To find and stop what has been terrorizing the town. But there’s only so much he can do. Real-life investigations aren’t as fast as they show on tv. But nooo, he’s supposed to have solved this already. Hence why he’s currently sitting at the bottom of the ocean much to his patron’s amusement. He got frustrated and trying to think with everyone on his back was nigh impossible. Vadad Mare just laughs at him. He’s pouting and it knows that. But after a while leaves him alone to go look at one of the other people it’s the patron of, leaving him to contemplate. The water by town is peaceful at least. Just aquatic creatures going about their day. They’ve long since gotten used to his presence here. 

But the peace is broken by a larger than normal presence. He flicks his eyes to the side, catching faint sight of a humanoid aquatic creature. He turns to them to get a better look and realizes they’re a siren. Though unlike tales of old, they’re not charming and threatening instead they look like an excited child… one that’s currently barreling into him, oh goddam- 

Before he can finish the thought he’s tackled by a very cheery siren. Their tail shakes excitedly behind them as they grin at him from above. “Hi!” They chirp. 

“Ahh, hello.” He greets hesitantly back.

Their grin brightens, “I haven’t seen any humans this deep for so long before!” They get closer to him, pulling at him, inspecting every corner. They then look at his eyes and their expression drops. Almost immediately they tilt their head as if confused by their own actions. “Eyes…” they whisper. “Your eyes… what the _hell_ _is wrong with them_?” They back up, looking past him. “ _You aren’t human_ ,” they accuse harshly. 

He sits up, “I am… but I can see why you wouldn’t think that.” He sighs, looking away. That’s pretty much everyone’s first reaction after all. It gets old admittedly. 

They glare at him and hiss, “ _ You lie _ .”

“Wish I was.” He scrubs his face with his hands. He really fucking does wish he was. So much for peace at the bottom of the ocean. He sighs again, “I’m a warlock,” he looks away, “and against my will, I made a pact with… honestly, I don’t even know what. I guess it’s called Vadad Mare, but I’m not even sure if that’s actually its name.”

“ _ How do you accidentally make a pact? _ ”

“I don’t know!” Saihara throws his hands up. “I was just- UGH!” He turns away, He honestly doesn’t know how to explain it. He briefly has the thought that he can't remember. But he shakes the thought away, there’s no way he doesn’t remember something like that. “Nevermind.” He throws them a look, “Look, I woke up and heard a voice in my head say we have a pact now,  _ that’s all _ .”

“ _ Are you undead? _ ”

He squints at them and shakes his head, “What? No, why would you think that?”

“ _ You smell like death _ .” If he smelled like death then why didn't they say anything before noticing his eyes? He files the question away for when they don't look like they're about to slit his throat.

“Gee, thanks,” he rolls his eyes. “Look I don’t know why I would smell like death or whatever, I've never died and I’d rather not die now please.”

They glaringly search him as if to tell if he’s lying, but seem to relax. Though they remain on guard, “Okay death smelling ‘warlock’, who are you and how are you breathing underwater?” 

He looks up at them and holds out a hand, “Detective Saihara Shuichi from Jabberwock Island and I’m pretty sure my patron is to thank for that. Don’t know why it would have me be able to do this, but yeah.” He tilts his head towards them, “And you are…?”

Warily they shake his hand, “They call me Kitty.” They pull back and look him up and down. “So Sai-har-ah,” They mockingly enounce, “What are you doing here anyway?”

He slams his back into the sand, sighing deeply. “Getting away from everyone else.”

“Why?” Saihara is tempted to laugh, for all their intimidation tactics they’re still a child. 

But he doesn’t at risk of offending them, “There’s a case they’ve dumped on me. And they’re all expecting me to have solved it by now.” He grabs at his hair, “But what they don’t get is that it's not that simple. I’ve run into a dead-end and there’s not much I can do until more evidence is revealed. Though have fun trying to explain that to everyone else.” He drops his arms, “The only person who gets it, I guess also the only other detective on this island, is off somewhere else investigating another case and unfortunately, it’s not like I can just shoot her a text. There's no reception on that side of the island. ” He explains before propping himself up with his hands, “I just got annoyed dealing with everyone breathing down my neck,” He gestures wide with his arms, looking up at the seemingly very interested siren, “So here I am.”

They still look worriedly behind him, but now it seems they’re less likely to murder him. “What’s this case about?” 

“Sometimes a creature,” He interjects with, “no one can decide on what kind they are,” before returning to what he was saying before, “will get close to shore and try talking to civilians and convince them to take them with them to explore the town. And so they do. But during the night another creature comes from the water and hunts down that person. Destroying everything in their path before breaking in and grabbing the first creature and retreating back into the water where they completely disappear.” Saihara scrubs at his face, “Neither has hurt anyone yet. But the people are afraid that one day they will. But everyone keeps saying conflicting accounts about these creatures and once they’re in the water, it's impossible to track them if I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

He looks back to Kitty, but their face has gone slack in shock. And once he’s done talking they immediately latch onto his shoulders and get into his face, searching it very intently, “Did they say what size these creatures were?!” 

Saihara stares into their eyes, “Uhh, yeah I guess. The first one is small, maybe around your size actually. While the other one some claim is only five feet while others say they’re longer than a house…" A lightbulb goes off in his head.

Kitty backs up and curses under their breath, “shit…” Then they turn tail and swim away. 

Saihara reaches for them calling, “Hey, wait!” But he’s too slow to catch up and soon his only lead disappears. He looks around him and sighs. He’s not going to get any peace here anymore. He swims back to shore, coughing. He remains hunched over the ground hacking out his lungs until every ounce of water is gone. It always sucks to transition from air to water. Especially considering his patron's spell that lets him not drown doesn’t actually remove the water, just allows it to be pushed around like air, taking the oxygen from it so he can breathe. Once done he lets himself fall to his side and rolls onto his back and stares up at the sky. 

But soon his view is blocked by a blond half-elf, otherwise better known as his best friend Akamatsu Kaede. She’s been by his side helping him out since he first washed up on this island and the two of them got on like a house on fire. But now she looks at him questioningly, “You good?” He gives her two thumbs up and she just rolls her eyes, scoffing good-naturedly. She holds out her hands and helps pull him up as soon as he accepts them. She casts destroy water, helping dry him off once he’s up. He thanks her with a nod and she starts talking again, “Sure thing. You usually spend longer down there though, what’s up?” 

“I think I might have a new lead.” He begins to recall his entire interaction with Kitty to Akamatsu. From the child’s initial excitement, to the inexplicable insistence on him quote on quote ‘smelling like death’, and lastly their hasty retreat. With Akamatsu nodding or humming in response as it fits. 

“Well that is definitely strange, but hey they sound like a good lead and now you have someone you can search for.” Saihara nods and the two keep walking. Akamatsu makes grand gestures as she tells him about the spell she and Tojo have been working on. And gushes about watching Harukawa and Tojo work out together, “They can step on me anytime.”

Saihara snorts and lightly shoves her for the terrible joke, “I’m  _ so _ telling them that you said that.”

Akamatsu gasps and shoves him back, “ _ You won’t dare _ .”

Saihara turns to her challengingly, “Try me.”

All she says is “Oh that’s it! Come here!” Before tackling him to the ground, the two play wrestling. None of the villagers bat an eye at the two roughhousing. It being long since commonplace by now. Eventually, though they split, falling side by side in the dirt, staring at the sky, laughing. God if you told Saihara he’d be best friends with an optimistic half-elf who is  _ so _ crushing on his other tiefling and aasimar best friends he would’ve hit you for wasting his damn time. Though he supposes he didn’t know where he’d be or what he’d be doing anyway. Sometimes he doesn’t even know what he  _ was _ doing before being here. He doesn’t think about the past much. Too busy dealing with the present. But sometimes… sometimes in moments like these, like earlier, it’s all he can think about. 

But he doesn’t think long because Akamatsu is standing, having already brushed the dirt off and offering him a hand once more. And just like every time before, he accepts it, letting her pull him up, the two start walking again. This time though Akamatsu has passed the ball into Saihara’s court and he talks about small things. Like his dog recently learning a new trick, which Akamatsu absolutely gushes about, Saihara swears she’s just using him for his dog sometimes. Or the new short story he’s been working on in between the case. And other smaller cases he’s taken and solved. And it’s nice as always. Though a part of Saihara wants to go back to earlier in the water. To talk about all the questions he has now. The theories he’s already making… but he doesn’t want to risk dragging down the mood. It’s stupid he knows especially since they were just talking about it earlier. But he can’t help it. So he doesn’t mention it. Instead, he laughs at some silly joke Akamatsu made. Focusing on not tripping over air and falling on his face.

* * *

Saihara knocks on the door on the house of the Naegi twins. Two of the only other warlocks in town, however unlike him they have some archfey patron, he doesn’t remember if they ever said the name. But hey it’s not his business anyway. Makoto being the one of the tiefling pair being the one who answers the door. He smiles brightly at Saihara, “Hello Shuichi~!” He opens the door further. “What’s going on?” 

“Uhhh, well I was hoping to see if you and your sister could help me out,” Saihara answers, looking away almost embarrassed. He’s not the biggest fan of asking for help with cases, but this one looks like it’ll need the twins’ expertise. 

Makoto steps back to let Saihara in, “I hope we can be of help then!” 

Saihara ducks his head as he enters the building, “Ahhh, thanks.”

“Komaru we have a guest!” Makoto shouts into the house as he closes the door.

She bolts into the room, nearly tripping and she goes to pull Saihara into a hug, “Shuichi, it’s so good to see you!” She spins him in the circle, and christ! Has she gotten stronger!? She puts him down, only to grab his hands and pull him into the living room, “So is this about the case?”

She lets go of his hands and Saihara takes a seat, “Yes, I believe I have a new lead, but I don't have any way of finding them again.”

The twins meet each other's gaze and seemingly have a silent conversation. Saihara doesn’t bat an eye, more than used to them doing this. He used to live with them after washing up in town. They taught him all that he knows about being a warlock. Though it was Makoto’s wife Kyoko who got him into detective work. Saihara can’t really thank them all enough. He shakes his head out of the good memories though and looks up the twins who turn their heads to him. 

“Do you know this lead’s name?” Makoto asks gently. 

Saihara nods, “Their name is Kitty. They’re a siren, a child I believe.” 

“Anything else about them?” Komaru asks, writing down what Saihara says. And he gets what she’s doing. 

“She has long brown hair. She seems very small, about half of my height I’d say. She had wide brown eyes. And she said I smelled like death.” Saihara describes. They’re likely going to try Scrying and a dimensional door once they see where Kitty is. 

“Alright, that should work!” Komaru nods to herself, before turning to Saihara and asking, “Have you had anything to eat today by the way?”  _ Shit _ . She sighs, “Alright that’s it you’re joining us for dinner.” And Saihara knows his fate is sealed, once Komaru has made up her mind there’s no changing it. 

Makoto chuckles at his helpless look, “Here in the meantime we still have to catch up on the latest episodes of the baking show.” 

“I heard-” Makoto throws a pillow at Komaru cutting her off.

“No spoilers!”

“This is the third time you’re watching through all the episodes!” She protests through thinly veiled laughter.

Saihara laughs as the two begin to play fight, moving to set up the tv. He absconds to the kitchen to make snacks before he gets pulled into their battle. Making popcorn, grabbing a bag of pretzels and the container of Nutella. It’s a sweets kind of day. Besides getting a lead is something worth celebrating he excuses. The other two have calmed down by the time he enters, tossing the two bags of popcorn to Komaru and she passes the second one to Makoto, while Saihara takes a seat with the pretzels. And they all hunker down to watch the show. Making biting comments towards less than favorable competitors, cheering on their favorites, and shushing each others’ commentary when things get tense. It’s nice. After the couple of weeks he’s had Saihara is content to sit with the twins and relax. 

They watch for a while, but Saihara knows that soon he should head back and prepare a plan of action for tomorrow. He’s not looking forward to it. But there’s work to be done and hey when in doubt he can sleep once he’s dead. The season finishes and Saihara stands, stretching as he does. “It’s been lovely, but I’ve got to go home. I need to come up with a plan for tomorrow.”

The twins exchange concerned glances, that Saihara misses. Both coming to a silent conclusion. Makoto shifts uncomfortably, he never did like doing these kinds of things. Thankfully Komaru is used to it, though she isn’t fond of doing it to someone she knows. But there’s little choice, Saihara will work himself to death before he lets himself take a proper break. He probably spent a good part of watching the show thinking about this new lead. Komaru stands and puts a hand on Saihara’s shoulder, “You really should take a break.” And she casts Dominate Person, and one could argue, unfortunately, but also, fortunately, he succumbs to it. She sighs, “Sorry Shuichi, but you’ve left us with no choice.”

And immediately she commands him to sleep, diving quickly to catch him before he hits his head on anything. She picks him up and Makoto opens the door. The two make the trek through town to Saihara’s house, a lonely little thing near the edge of town. Makoto opens the door and Komaru tucks Saihara into bed. The twins each take a turn to kiss his forehead and wish him goodnight and ask Missy to keep an eye on Saihara for them. The dog gives a quiet bark in response. They lock the door behind them when they leave. Though before they go to sleep themselves they prepare items for the Scrying and Dimension Door. Once done, the two part ways with a smile and a cheery, “Goodnight!”

* * *

Saihara shoots up, blankets falling from his shoulders to pool around his waist. He’s still dressed in what he was wearing yesterday. The first thought through his head is  _ Oh goddamnit _ . Komaru proves to be ruthlessly caring as always it seems. And the twins’ damn luck once again leaves him falling for it as always. He’d make a note to himself to stop going to their house after lunch, but he never listens. Speaking of notes though, it seems they left one for him. 

“ _ Shuichi after eating breakfast, meet us at the shore! _ ” It reads in Makoto’s familiar loopy handwriting. At least this means despite rudely (Vadad laughs, the bastard) knocking himself unconscious, at least they’re still willing to get this done today instead of forcing him to take a day off. 

He puts the note with all the others left by the twins. He elects to get food before changing. Making a small dish of fried fish and day-old rice, sneaking Missy the occasional scrap. Though she doesn't need to be spoiled and her bowl has long since refilled itself (not really that actually, usually refilled just before he wakes up in the mornings,) the wonders of modern magic. And he looks outside his kitchen windows. Sunlight pouring through the glass. Lighting up the permanent dust in the air, watching as it rises and falls. The world just waking up with him. Kids running in the lawns, smiles wider than the shoreline. Parents watching from porches and windows as they cook breakfast. Some families eat around the table in the house, others sit outside in the sun as they eat. Lone adults rush through town to work, parents walking kids to school before work. He wishes he could remember this moment forever. But no camera could ever do it justice and he’s too caught up in his cases to ever have room in his head to remember it. Least for the long run. But least he can live in the moment however brief as he munches on his breakfast. 

Soon he finishes it though and leaves his perch by the window to wash the dishes. He pats Missy on the head before cleaning up for the day, making a note to himself to take her for a walk later. He takes a quick shower and leaves his hair loose to air dry while he changes into a fresh pair of clothes. He keeps it simple though professional, grabbing a hair tie before he leaves his house. He keeps his hands in his pockets while walking through town, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He squinted at the air around him, he had forgone his hat which means the sun was very insistently shining into his eyes. And he’s walked this path so much that in all honestly he was half tempted to walk it with eyes shut. It’s not like he could see well with the sun in his eyes anyway. However, he needed to keep his eyes open to spot the twins. 

He finds them lounging in the sun, sitting on the sand and overlooking the water. They wave to him as he approaches. The two stand to meet him, Komaru begins, “Sorry Shuichi, but you needed the sleep.” Saihara waves it off, he really should expect this of her. “But don’t worry we’ve planned it out ourselves!” She puts her hands on her hips, “And we’ve come completely prepared.” 

He can’t stay mad at them so he nods, tying his hair back into a ponytail as he says, “Alright, ready when you are.”    
  


The two nod, the three of them walk into the water and breathe. Komaru steps forward and reaches into a pouch, pulling out an expensive crystal ball. She cast Scrying and much like with him, Kitty fails to stop Komaru. She gets a feel for the area and copies it back to Saihara. They’re not in the ocean, but rather a nearby river. Kitty likely used the ocean as a way to hide their trail. Saihara hums in approval, smart. Thankfully for him though, there are still ways around that. And it comes in the form of Komaru, hand on Makoto’s shoulder while reciting the invasion of Dimensional Door. The two disappear and Saihara repeats after her, feeling himself be warped to the river she had described. They didn’t get as close as possible, due to not knowing exactly where it was located, however, the area seems like the description so it’s good enough. 

Immediately a cecaelia and a merfolk rush up to the group. The merfolk taking the lead, “Well this is new!” She holds out a hand, “I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m House.” 

Saihara takes the lead for his group and shakes her hand, “Ah, hello. I’m Detective Saihara and I was hoping I could ask you a few questions.”

“A human detective, breathing underwater, asking questions. Really?” The Cecaelia asks.

Saihara tilts his head at the other, “Well if it’s any consolation the reason I can breathe underwater is that I’m a warlock. As for the rest of it, well suffice to say people are upset about some underwater creatures causing chaos on land. And I’m the guy they want to take care of it.” 

“Take care of it how?” He asks, a threat in his voice.

Saihara shrugs and answers matter a factly, “Well the people would say through murder, but honestly I was hoping to just talk it out.” 

“And the other two?”

“Assistants.” He gestures to the two, “This is Komaru and Makoto Naegi. They are helping me follow a lead as I don’t know the spell I need for it.” The twins wave to the two sea dwellers.

“I see…” He doesn’t continue. 

House clicks her tongue, “Don’t mind him, he’s very wary.” 

Saihara shakes his head, “Don’t worry, I’d be more worried he wasn’t.”

House nods sharply then claps her hands, “So what can we do for you?”

“We were wondering if you knew any siren child by the name of Kitty? They fit the description the town members gave of one of the two creatures involved.” Saihara starts questioning.

“I know them alright. Did they do something wrong?”

“Ahhh, no.” Saihara waves his hands in front of himself as he explains the situation, adding at the end, “Kitty hasn’t done anything wrong,” He reassures her. “Really I’m more trying to find the larger creature who seems to follow them close behind and see if there’s any way we could come up with a way to stop having all their visits end in property destruction and mass fear. Everyone is worried that they’re going to hurt the people, though honestly, I’m more afraid that everyone else is going to attack them first!”

“I see…” She claps her hands, “In that case, follow me!” And she begins to swim further upstream.

But before I could question her, the Cecaelia objects first, “House! We can’t just lead a bunch of strangers home!”

She waves him off, “Oh come oooonnnn, it’ll be fine!” She turns to look at him, “Besides if they try anything you can always punch them into next week.” She begins to swim away again.

And the Cecaelia looks at them, “If you try anything…” He vaguely warns. 

“Don’t worry, we don’t plan it.”

“Good.” And he begins to swim after House, the three of them following behind. Saihara observes the river bank. Catching the little nooks and crannies. Figuring that must be how they can navigate the area so easily. He’s reminded that under the water isn’t that much different from being on the surface. Different people. Different cultures. But at the end of the day, they go about everything in the same way. Same ways of finding their way home. Same feeling of home. Of family. It wasn’t that he ever thought of those in the deep as unequal. But he’s lived on land so long that  _ just _ how similar they catch him off guard sometimes. For as complex as the world is, sometimes it’s also so very simple. 

“We’re here!” House cheerfully announces, knocking Saihara out of his thoughts and cutting off whatever conversation the Naegi twins were having behind him. House darts forward with a simple, “Be right back~!” Likely to get the two we came for.

The Cecaelia remains with them and fair enough. Though Saihara wished he had a name to actually call him. And he should ask but it feels like it would be awkward to at this point. Not to say the current silence wasn’t, but he felt like it would make it worse. So instead he takes in the home House had led them to. Most of it appears to be underground, with a small entrance peeking out of the ground. The outside heavily decorated in plants and gold. Gold. A fierce protectiveness. Oh, _oh_ _shit_. Suddenly Saihara realizes he knows what the creature scaring everyone is. Fuck him, he’s so screwed if he’s not careful. Nagas are not to be fucking messed with, especially on their own turf. 

Soon House comes out the door, followed by Kitty and as Saihara guessed, one very large, sort of pissed off Water Naga. “ _ It’s death. _ ” Kitty breathes out and okay that’s a little more dramatic than necessary.

God he really needs to do damage control and fast otherwise this is going to get ugly. The Naga goes straight for him and Saihara forces himself to not flinch. “ _ What do you want? _ ” The Naga asks sharply.

Saihara smoothes his shirt and answers, “As I’m sure you can tell you’ve recently been scaring many townsfolk and bringing quite a bit of destruction with you.” He steadily meets the Naga’s eyes, “I’m the guy they sent to do something about it. But unlike many in town, I’m not interested in murder. I hope we could instead come up with a compromise so that you may do your thing with the town being none the wiser.” 

The Naga laughs in his face, “And why should I believe you?”

“I came unarmed, you can check if you like. I’m a detective, not a killer.” Saihara raises his arms to his side as if gesturing for the Naga to go ahead and check.

“My, my, shouldn’t you ask me on a date first Detective?” Saihara chokes on water a little bit, much to his patron and the Naga’s amusement.  _ Son of a bitch, he’s got another audience member then? _ “You know people don’t always need a weapon to be dangerous though. Especially since a little birdy told me you’re a warlock.”

_ Yeah with the biggest little shit for a patron, who likely wouldn’t let him cast any attack spells if he tried. _ But the naga has a point. “I am. But I haven’t always been and even then I’m not much of a fighter. Plus your group outnumbers mine. It would be stupid of me to try anything. This really is just a diplomatic meeting.” Saihara tries to reassure.

The naga seems to consider his words and after a while holds out his hand, “Fine, I’m Joker.” Saihara gives a firm shake after which pulls back from Saihara’s personal bubble. “What did you have in mind?”

Saihara claps his hands and gestures to the twins, “We thankfully are on good terms with most of the town and I-” Saihra gestures to himself, “Happen to know people who either can cast or can make a potion for True Polymorph and aren’t opposed to solving this case in a nonviolent way along with being able to keep it secret.” He gestures to Kitty and Joker, “And since you seem to only care about ensuring Kitty is safe. And Kitty just wants to explore. Why not use polymorph to let you two go around during the day and explore and then return to the water when done for the day?” He points to Joker, “You get to keep Kitty safe.” He points to Kitty next, “And you get to explore.” Saihara drops his hand, “It’s the best thing I could think of, especially considering most people can’t see past polymorph and those who can wouldn’t care or-” He gestures to himself and the twins again, “We could easily convince them to let it slide.” He gestures to the other group, “So what do you think?”

Joker holds up a finger and then their group disappears inside, Saihara's guess is to get privacy to talk it out. He has no problem waiting. Instead, he idly chats with the twins about the group. They all agree that they respect the wariness the group has, in this kind of world it’s fair enough, especially when facing strangers from a different plane. Though Makoto appreciates House’s willingness to at least try working with them. And the two can’t help but find that fair enough even if they think, even if it inconveniences them, maybe there should be more caution. They continue their chatter until the door opens once more. This time more people pour out of it. Leaving the three facing nine other people in total, Joker taking the front of the group. Saihara goes to meet him in the middle.

“So we decided to take you up on your compromise, however, be warned if you try to betray us you  _ will _ regret it,” Joker informs him, hand held out.

Saihara takes it, “I- We,” he amends, “We won’t.”

“Good,” Joker says with a firm handshake.

Kitty then bounds up to Saihara, despite their clear discomfort around his smell they’re still excited as they ask the two, “Could we go exploring today!?” 

Joker looks to Saihara for a response. Saihara gives Kitty a sad smile, “Ahh, not today, no. We don’t have any potion ready and my friend can only cast it on one person at a time.” He sees their smile drop and he quickly adds, “But maybe tomorrow if Joker is okay with it.” Saihara looks to Joker, tossing the ball into his court.

Joker puts a jokingly inquisitive hand under his chin, loudly humming. But then Kitty elbows him in the side and Joker laughs, waving his hands, “Alright! Alright! Tomorrow then.” He looks up to Saihara, “You know where to find us.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Saihara bids the group goodbye and they go inside. Leaving the final three to head to shore and go home. (The transition from water to land hasn't got any less unpleasant, but it can't bring down his good mood. The twins don't have to deal with that, but they never hesitate to wait for him.) Except for Saihara, he had some work to do first. And it’s still early so he has time before anyone will start getting on his case about getting some sleep. The three of them split ways, Saihara thanking them for backing him up even if it didn't end up being needed and them reminding him that they’re always willing to help. Though still soaking wet Saihara uses another Dimensional Door to quickly enter his house. He didn’t want to track water into Tojo’s or Akamatsu’s home. Plus he could get away with something more casual now that his meeting was over. He’s sure Akamatsu will be excited to hear that the lead worked out and to have another excuse to visit Tojo. The second half makes him glad he was planning to visit Akamatsu first anyway. He grabs Missy's leash, much to his beloved Tibetan Mastiff's excitement.

* * *

She was, as he expected, excited and more than willing to help. They set out a plan, they can only let the two explore within one-hour increments so they had to be prepared to pull them out at moments notice so the town would never realize what was wrong. That Saihara isn’t telling the full truth. They decide to have Akamatsu join the group on the walks. When times up, she’ll use Plane Shift to bring them all back to the other two’s home. Saihara can bring him and Akamatsu back home afterward. But it all hinges on being able to get a potion of True Polymorph. So the two head to Tojo, resident cleric and potion mixer. 

He absolutely takes the chance to inform Tojo about Akamatsu’s comment from two days ago. Smirking at the blush that rises to each woman’s cheeks. Though he gets two punches for his trouble, his smirk doesn’t fall. It does turn to a more genuine smile though at Tojo’s confirmation that she can create the potions. The only thing being she’d likely have to ask Iruma for assistance, however, Saihara doubts it will be difficult for Tojo to convince Iruma to help. He still wants to bleach his brain after learning why Iruma was so soft on Tojo. He doesn’t need to know about his friends' sex life.

He leaves Akamatsu with Tojo and heads off for his own home, taking the scenic route for Missy, to organize an exploration path and prepares an alarm for fifty-eight minutes. He traces blocks around different areas of town, sticking to locations safe for children. He wonders if Kitty will like The Park by Starlight Diner. It’s one of the best-kept parks, with plenty of fun things for children to play on. And being right by the diner they can grab a small snack if needed. Plus he could pay Momota a visit, this case has gotten him so busy he hasn’t been able to see his friend in a while. It’ll be nice to talk to the half-orc again. 

Saihara smiles at the map and puts it away. Before he can sleep though there’s one thing he needs to do. He pulls up his computer and enters a message into the website for the detective agency informing everyone this latest case has at last been resolved. He turns everything off and stretches, a weight lifted off his shoulders. It’ll be over the news tomorrow, but thankfully he already knows what he’ll say. He brushes his teeth and looks at his reflection in the mirror. He still looks tired, it won’t go away in a day, but now it doesn’t look like a bone-deep exhaustion. It’s a pleased sort of tiredness, one that comes from a day of hard work that ends on a high note. And it’s an apt description of his day. He shakes his head and heads to bed, Missy taking to lounging beside him. He presses a kiss to her head and lets his own drop. He’s out like a light the moment his head hits the pillow.

* * *

He sinks into his couch the moment the reporters leave. Missy’s head immediately in his lap and he doesn’t hesitate to start petting her head. Making statements is always tiring, but even exhaustion can’t bring down his mood today, not a lot of things can bring him down now that the case is finished, huh? He lets himself relax for several minutes before getting up and changing to more appropriate wear, texting Akamatsu to see where she wants to meet. He’s fixing his shirt when he gets a response, she’s already at his door. He gives himself one last quick look over in the mirror before greeting Akamatsu. “Good morning Shuichi! You ready for today?”

He glances at the clock, yeah it’s only ten a.m. “Good morning, I do have in mind a place we can go today.” He gives Missy a head pat, “Be good girl.” Akamatsu steps back and lets him lock his house, inclining her head for him to continue. “How do you feel about a trip to The Park and seeing Kaito?”

Akamatsu’s eyes light up as they walk towards the coastline, “Oh! That works perfectly! I’ve heard he’s been doing really well since the last time we saw him from Maki. Still, it’ll be nice to see him in person.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Harukawa has probably been sparing them the details of Momota pouting about the case keeping him away. The thought makes him chuckle internally, for as tough as Momota likes to act, he’s really a big softy. Took him a while to admit that to himself, took the girls giving him shit for it for a while there too, but he’s come around since. He’s definitely missed his friend. 

He shakes his head and chats idly with Akamatsu, trying to predict how Kitty and Joker might react to their location picked for today. Both hope for the best, though really neither is worried. It seems like as long Kitty is okay then Ouma will be too. Kitty will probably love The Park, every kid in town does, even the ones that usually don’t like playing outside. There’s just something else about it, it’s hard to be upset while there. Saihara has the theory of it being old magic on the grounds which helps brighten everyone’s mood while there. It’s been a debate in his friend group for years. Everyone has always been split on what they think is causing it, it’s never been a problem though for them. At the end of the day, The Park is how it is and they could never let something so small ever tear the group apart. 

Eventually, they make it to the water, they waste no time on diving right in and Saihara immediately teleports them to Joker's home. He knocks at the door and waits. Not for long though because Kitty immediately bursts from the door, excitement clear on their face, even as they briefly scrunch up their nose at him. He idly wonders if it’s because he still smells like death. But he doesn’t think about it further as Joker darts out of the house soon after as well, grabbing and lifting Kitty up as he does, smile on his face as Kitty laughs brightly. The sight brings a slight smile to both Saihara and Akamatsu’s faces. Soon though he releases Kitty and turns towards the two of them, Akamatsu holds out her hand.

She introduces herself as he accepts it, “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Akamatsu!”

He nods, “I’m Joker,” And pulls back. “I am right to assume you’re the one who can cast True Polymorph then?”

Akamatsu nods, “Yup! I know druids usually can’t do that sort of thing but you’ll find in town we tend to go above and beyond, learning or creating new spells and recipes.”

Joker nods and then turns to Saihara, “I presume you have the potion then, Detective?” Behind him, Kitty and Akamatsu introduce themselves to each other. 

Saihara pulls it out of his pouch and shakes it, “Right here. But we’ll wait to use it till on land, don’t want to risk you guys drowning on accident.”

“Would kind of defeat the whole purpose of this idea.” Joker jokes.

Saihara chuckles, “Just a little bit, yeah.” The other two finish their brief conversation and turn back to the two guys. “Well then let’s get this show on the road.” And the four of them head for the shoreline of the river, trying to stay out of sight of the town. Saihara knocks the water from his lungs before helping pull Akamatsu up and she helps him pull Joker up, while Joker solely picks Kitty up and out of the water. He lets her sit on the floor while Akamatsu casts True Polymorph. Soon Kitty’s siren features fade and sitting down, still rather wet, in a pair of white shorts and a white t-shirt is Kitty, but as a human. She shakily stands up, unused to legs, Akamatsu helps her stand as Saihara passes the potion to Joker.

Who nearly falls on his ass once the shift takes place, though Saihara is quick to stead him. Weirdly enough he’s shorter than Saihara would have expected considering how tall he is as a Naga. Before where he could stand taller than Saihara and Akamatsu, now Saihara almost towers above him. It’s weird. But he shakes it off, taking in Joker’s new appearance. He wears long white pants and a white tank top. Saihara wonders what’s with all the white in their outfits, but he doubts anyone here knows the answer. Though man that’s going to be a fun debate another day. Saihara steps back once Joker seems to have gotten himself situated. 

Then Akamatsu dries everyone off, and Saihara is once again caught off-guard by how Joker looks, his hair which appeared black before turns out to be a vibrant purple and very fucking fluffy. It somehow suits him, Saihara finds. But he’s shaken out his thoughts by Akamatsu clapping her hands, “We’re on a time limit so let’s go have some fun with it.” She gestures to Saihara, “You want to do the honor?”

He rolls his eyes playfully at her dramatics before one by one teleporting everyone to the diner. No one bats an eye at the sudden appearance of multiple people. Random acts of teleportation are far from uncommon in this town. But Momota does perk up from behind the counter. Finishing the order for the small group of teens in line before coming around the back of the counter and pulling Akamatsu and Saihara into a big hug, “Guys! It’s been a while, how have you been?” Voice dripping with excitement. 

The two chuckle and hug back just as fiercely. “Shuichi finished the case!” Akamatsu cheers.

“And hopefully Akamatsu finally got herself a date.” Saihara teases. She shoves him out of the hug.

Momota chuckles, “That’s great! I heard about the case in the news, still feels weird to not be doing anything to help, but I knew you could handle it!”

The group steps back, “How have you been Kaito?” Saihara asks.

He smiles, “A lot better,” He raises his hands in defense when they give him questioning looks. “I’m serious! Still no nightmares and the pain is pretty dull now. And you already know Kiyo would have my head if I pushed myself too far.”

Speaking of, said man steps out from the back room to greet the group, “Fear not though for I haven’t needed to.” Saihara notices he’s started growing his hair out again. Shinguji greets the two before turning to Kitty and Joker who’ve been standing awkwardly off to the side of the warm greeting. “Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”

“We’re new in town,” Joker explains.

Shinguji nods, “Well, in that case, welcome, I hope you like it here.” He turns to Kitty and kneels down, “Would you like a cookie?” They stare at him in slight suspicion, though Saihara can see the interest. Shinguji doesn’t get offended though, “They aren’t poisoned, don’t worry, it’d be bad for business otherwise.”

“Wouldn’t giving away free cookies also be bad for business?” They ask him. Joker chuckles at their bluntness.

Shinguji just smiles, “Maybe for some businesses, but we always have spare treats. And I have no problem making sure they don’t go to waste.” Saihara can see Momota smile warmly at Shinguji’s back. As exciting as Momota can be, out of the two of them, Shinguji has always been the one better with kids. It helps that he seems to have an endless patience with them, Saihara doesn’t believe he’s ever seen Shinguji so much as raise his voice at a child unless he was cheering them on in something. 

Eventually, Kitty nods their head and Momota grabs a chocolate chip cookie from behind the counter, handing it to Shinguji. Who in turn hands it to Kitty, they sniff at it cautiously before taking a nibble. Their eyes light up and they happily munch on the sweet treat. Joker gives Kitty A Look and she swallows the bite in her mouth before chirping, “Thank you, Mister!” 

Shinguji nods, smile warm, “You’re very welcome.” He gracefully stands up again and looks to the group, “Will you be getting something to eat?”

Saihara looks over his group, Joker and Akamatsu shake their heads. “Ahh, no. Not right now. I was planning on showing these two,” He gestures to Kitty and Joker, “The Park. Though after we’re done for the day I’ll be sure to come back.”

Shinguji nods, “I’ll be seeing you then.” He smiles at the group before making his way back into the back room.

Momota claps a hand on Saihara’s shoulder. “Don’t be a stranger!” He looks at Kitty and Joker, “And hey you two are always welcome back anytime! A friend of Shuichi’s is a friend of mine!” He gives them all a bright wave before taking his place behind to counter once more. 

The group remaining looks to each other before heading out the door of the diner. And right across the street stands The Park. Kitty’s eyes widen in excitement and they bolt to it, stumbling a few times, but managing to never fall. The three follow after at a much more casual pace. All of them smile at Kitty’s first go at the playscape. It seems for the first time since Saihara’s met Joker, that he relaxes. Saihara waves Akamatsu and Joker to join him on a bench nearby, so they can sit while watching Kitty play. It’s nice to see Kitty dart around with excitement at every little thing.

Soon enough though some kids invite Kitty to join them in a game. The kids run around smiling brightly as they play pretend as pirates. Saihara briefly feels almost a flash of an image as he watches them. Not quite deja vu, but similar. He feels like he’s been out on sea before. He knows he must’ve been as he had to get to this island somehow, but he never knew what his relation to the water was. He idly wonders if before this he was a pirate, he’s seen kids play sailor, and he’s seen the navy ships before and never felt like this. Was he a pirate or perhaps a prisoner to them? He shakes his head, no use dwelling on it right now. 

He watches as Joker joins the kids at Kitty’s request. He runs underneath the playscape, acting as if he were a sea monster. The kids laugh joyously. Akamatsu stands and holds out a hand. “If you can’t fight them…” She smiles as she trails off.

They join the fray, using small illusion spells to the children’s amusement. Laughter echoes through the playground. The sun shines high above. Smiles wide enough to make your face hurt as your eyes crinkle in mirth. It’s a beautiful day. The hour passes by in the blink of an eye. And though tired and sweaty the four as they depart are all smiling.

As they make they’re way back to the river, they chat idly about their day. Kitty skipping in front, excitedly exclaiming about how much fun they had at the park today. Asking for where they’re going next and when. The three adults chuckle and prepare plans for another day of adventure. Joker confesses to having enjoyed the day more than he had been expecting and Saihara can feel the heat on his face as his smile widens. It’s a really nice day. Even as the two sea dwellers transform back and are carefully helped back into the water and goodbyes are given. 

Akamatsu and Saihara head to his house to plan out the next time. They pick a forest to hike. It’s a beautiful place no matter the weather. Plus Kitty clearly loves to move around, so it’ll give them plenty of chances to run around and move. Nature hikes are always nice and as a bonus for Akamatsu, she can use the chance to find some ingredients both her and Tojo had been looking to refill on. While Saihara knows Missy will be excited for a long walk. He idly wonders what the two sea dwellers will think of Missy, but shakes the thought off, Missy makes it hard to not love her. With a smile on their faces, Saihara and Akamatsu separate while the day is still young. Akamatsu likely heading over to find one of the girls to hang out with while Saihara heads back to the cafe.

He smiles as the bell rings above the door. He’s greeted by an excited cheer from Momota and a “Welcome back Shuichi!” from the back room. Momota heads to the back while Saihara takes their usual booth by the window. Soon Shinguji and Momota step out the back with a lunch for the three of them.

They excitedly exchange words, catching one another up on how things have been since they last spoke. Business is booming as always and the days seem to be getting brighter overall for the pair running the diner. And the two couldn’t be closer together. Leading Saihara to give Momota a pointed look, earning only the promise of “Soon.” Saihara doesn’t give him much more grief about it, at least not in front of Shinguji. And the two have been coming up with more dishes, with Saihara promising to come by more often to play guinea pig for them now that he has the proper free time again.

And soon they have Saihara going on the case and his relief at finally wrapping it up. Unlike with the news, he doesn’t lie about what his solution was. The two pat him on the back, happy to see he’s still trying to find peaceful solutions first and excited to see it worked out this time as well. At some point though he starts rambling about Joker and his group and about how interesting the group seems. Though more so rambling about Joker, letting slip a comment about how pretty he is. Shinguji and Momota exchange a glance, but neither say anything. Content to listen to Saihara ramble, both quickly realizing it seems Saihara has gotten a puppy crush.

They fondly regard their own days of crushing on the other, now they can finally tease Saihara back for it. But not yet of course. Joker and Saihara need more time, a crush without a foundation of friendship won’t end in anything but ruin. Plus they wouldn’t want to push Saihara into something he’s not comfortable with. Though in the meantime they smile and plot light-hearted revenge against their friend. If Saihara notices this, he doesn’t say anything. But he seems far too wrapped up in Joker to notice anyway.

Eventually, though they finish their meals and Saihara bids the pair adieu, letting them get back to work. He heads back home, a smile on his face. It’s been a really great day, and he thinks it might actually be getting better from here.

* * *

And the next day is just as nice as the first. Just this time Joker and Saihara start talking. At first, it’s about small things, their favorite foods, which season they prefer, when Saihara got Missy and how. But then as the days go on, they begin to talk about deeper things, Joker talks about back when he was a kid and how he met his family or as he refers to them, “His Treasures.” And Saihara talks about meeting his group of friends on the island. About how Akamatsu was there for him when he first woke up, quickly becoming thick as thieves. About moving in with the Naegi’s and learning to control his powers from the twins and gaining interest in detective work from Kyoko. And how he met Momota and what he was like back then, at least until everyone else finally knocked some sense into him and got him to move on from toxic masculinity. Saihara only says mentions of the Lich Incident which led to Momota’s accident and Shinguji’s arrival into the friend group. Leaving the actual story to be told by those two as it affected them the most. (And he was right, Joker and Kitty loved Missy.)

With time the two begin to find themselves meeting up without Akamatsu and Kitty. Sometimes they explore town, but other times Saihara invites Joker into his home. Joker talks about how amassed his treasure pile and Saihara speaks of his rise into the town’s most beloved detective. In between adventures and cases, on quiet days the two grow closer. And when they run out of the past to talk about, they talk about today. Saihara with his cases and Joker with his tales of family shenanigans and adventures for treasure. 

Soon Joker begins to invite Saihara to join him in his home. And there Saihara finally learns the Cecaelia’s name (It’s Ace of Hearts, though they just call him Hearts) and meets the rest of Joker’s family. They’re not so intimidating once he gets to know them. Kitty still squints at him about smelling like death. But he talked to them about it one day. Learning they were a ranger who hunts the undead after a necromancer massacred their previous home and raised the dead to turn them into an undead horde. The worst part was their parents were turned and then ordered to kill them, they were just lucky to get run into Joker who, with the help of everyone else, put a stop to the necromancer. Later offering them a place among their ranks. They learned what death smells like so they could stop the undead. 

Saihara could only nod, finally understanding how they got to be where they are today.

“Honestly I kind of hate how you smell like  _ them _ . But you’ve been really nice and I don’t want to kill you.” They confess.

“You’re very nice as well, I’d hate to be killed.” The two share a chuckle. “Though to be serious, you know you don’t have to kill every undead. It’s okay to leave alive those who aren’t hurting anyone. So on the off chance I did die and was resurrected without me knowing, I hope it wouldn’t seem necessary to kill me.” 

“Are you sure?”

He pulls them into a hug, “Of course, you aren’t going to fail as a ranger if you don’t kill every one of your targets you come across.” They nodded into his chest. It was a good conversation that day. Joker later thanked him for talking to and reassuring Kitty about it. 

Saihara watches as his schedule slowly shifts. Downtimes in-between cases no longer filled with blank staring at the tv, pauses no longer filled with frustrated thoughts. Now in between cases, he’s with Joker, talking about nothing and everything usually. Though sometimes, sometimes they just sit together, side-by-side in silence. They could fill it, but they don’t have to, so they don’t. And while usually silence while around others makes Saihara feel uncomfortable, as if he needs to fill it or it means he’s upset the other, with Joker he finds the silence is rather nice. And during the moments where he pauses while staring at paperwork for the latest cases, instead of frustration he thinks of whether or not Joker is coming over, or if perhaps he’s going over Joker’s and what they will eat for dinner. Loving to pretend to not notice as Joker slipped Missy food, no one is immune to her puppy eyes. 

Saihara has known many people and has made a large number of friends since waking up on the island, but he’s never been with someone like this. Never has any of them seem to become such a large part of his daily life. The closest he’s ever come to something like this was with the Naegi’s and that’s because he lived with them for a while whilst trying to get his new life here sorted out. But Joker doesn’t live with him. In fact, Joker lives on another plane entirely and yet… yet he’s filled in every empty crevice in Saihara’s life that he never really noticed was empty in the first place until suddenly there was someone there. 

And Saihara realizes he trusts Joker, a lot actually. When Joker asks him to be a guinea pig for potion experiments Saihara doesn’t hesitate to agree. He’s used to doing it for his friends. And it’s one day while he’s drinking another weird concoction Joker has brewed up does he realize that he considers Joker to be a friend. A very good friend actually. And Saihara has no idea when it happened. When they had bridged the gap between acquaintances and friends. Was it when they often found themselves at the other’s house? Or earlier when they started talking without anyone else? Or even earlier, at The Park? He honestly can’t say. All he knows is his heart is pounding because suddenly he can’t imagine a life without Joker in it. Without his friend using him as a guinea pig, treating each other to dinner, talking about whatever it is that catches their eyes this time, and someone to hang over his shoulder and know when to pull him away from his work, or just place a newly filled coffee cup next to him. They don’t even need to play catch up like Saihara does with the others, because they’re always together.

At some point along the way, they become practically attached at the hip when they aren’t busy with everything else. It’s not like Saihara isn’t friends with Joker’s family or Joker isn’t friends with everyone else in their friend group. Because they both are. Yet they don’t act like this around anyone else. Just each other. Saihara feels warm at the thought of this. Of there being a little part of Joker that no one else gets to experience. 

But what makes him really lose his breath and when he learns this is reciprocated. 

It’s another night at Saihara’s house and he’s working on dinner while Joker sits at the dining room table, watching him. They were initially talking about the case Saihara had gotten today before Joker changed the topic to a show he’s been watching recently. It was about cryptids. Joker seemed to greatly enjoy sparking debates about them. Saihara never minded, much like the debates he has had with his friends in the past, he knows it’s all in good fun. 

But by now the debate has drawn close and the two sit in silence. The only noise in the room being from the sizzling of oil in the pan Saihara is using to saute some vegetables to go with dinner for that night. Saihara glances over, it seems Joker has started to fiddle with the fidget cube Saihara had gotten him early into their friendship, he looks deep in thought. Saihara turns back to the food, before lightly prodding, “Penny for your thoughts?” 

It shocks Joker out of his thoughts, he jumps, “What!?”

“You were staring at your cube like you could cause it to catch fire with your mind.”

“You know I technically can do that.”

“Figure of speech.” Joker rolls his eyes. “But really, what’s on your mind? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but you know you can, right?” Saihara asks him.

“Yeah I know, it’s just…” Saihara waits for him to collect his thoughts. “I- I want to tell you my name.” He blurts out, so fast Saihara nearly didn’t catch it. He nods, prompting Joker to continue as Saihara pulls the vegetables before they burn, putting the pan in the sink. “Names are powerful things…” Saihara takes a seat next to Joker, pulling one of Joker’s hands into his own. Joker doesn’t look at Saihara, just their hands, interlocked. “But I think I trust you with it.” Saihara squeezes his hand. Joker returns it as he says, “My name is Ouma Kokichi.”

Saihara gently pulls Jo- no Ouma to look at him, “I promise to keep it safe.” He nearly falls over when Ouma practically tackles him in a hug. 

The two share relieved laughter, and Ouma quietly whispers into Saihara’s ear, “Thank you.” To which Saihara silently answers by holding him tighter. The dinner nearly burns because they’re so caught up in the moment, but Saihara rescues it just in time. And the air loses its tension, filled with something much brighter. He sees Missy jumping excitedly at Joker, he smiles as he doesn’t hesitate to catch the massive dog. Gently pushing her off as dinner is served.

* * *

Unlike their friendship, Saihara can pinpoint the day where his feeling for Ouma went from platonic to something more romantic. It was a couple of days after Ouma had told Saihara his name. They were sitting down, watching a movie when Saihara found his attention straying more towards Ouma than the movie and he realized he wanted to do this every day. More than that, he wanted to hold Ouma and be able to kiss him every time he gives a clever quip or taunts Saihara to shut him up. He wants to not just be hanging out at each other’s houses, he wants to wake up next to him. He wants their outings in town to be dates not hanging out. He wants to call Ouma his boyfriend. And Saihara nearly flinches back at the realization. But instead, he forces himself to remain still and move his gaze back to the movie, but his eyes are unseeing. 

After Ouma goes home Saihara has a gay panic on his couch, bundles Missy up into his lap, and calls Akamatsu. 

She picks up on it, of course, “Shuichi! What’s up?”

“I think I have a crush on Joker.” It’s weird to call him Joker now that he’s started to call him Ouma, but Saihara said he’ll keep his name safe and he meant it.

“That’s great Shuichi!”

“No, it’s not! He probably doesn’t even like me like that and did you forget? He lives in a river and was a suspect in one of my cases. And I highly doubt the town forgot that so easily. They’re going to freak if they see suddenly I not only lied to them but am dating the person I lied about killing.”

“Shuichi, calm down! It’s okay! Ah ah ah! Don’t you start,” He can imagine her pointing at him, “It’s okay. You never technically lied, they don’t know that Joker was the one causing a ruckus, and it’s not like he hurt anyone. Shuichi it’s okay if you like him. Honestly, he’s the first person I have ever heard you say you like in the slightest bit of romantic sense. You should go for it.”

“But what if he doesn’t like me back? I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“If he cares about you as a friend Shuichi, he won’t let this ruin your friendship. And hey you never know if you don’t try. You don’t have to just come out and say it, but try testing the waters, see if he could be interested as well. He’s smart Saihara, he’ll catch on and he won’t lie to you about it.”

Saihara sighs, “Okay, okay.”

“You’ve got this Shuichi!” Akamatsu cheers him on.

And Saihara can’t help but smile, “Thank you Kaede.”

“Of course, what kind of best friend would I be if I didn’t help you sort out your poor bi heart’s romantic criseses.”

He laughs, “Don’t let Kaito catch you saying that.”

“Oh, he can deal with me having best friend privilege.” She begins to laugh, “Though he's going to be so grumpy that you told me first in that case!” 

“Oh my god.”

“You didn’t think of that did you?” The two begin to laugh, “He’s the only one of us who’s actually dating someone and you didn’t think to ask him for help!”

“He doesn’t know how he got his boyfriend!” Saihara tries defending, “I’d be better off trying to ask Shinguji for help!” The two laugh until their faces hurt.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Akamatsu huffs out a laugh, “I have to go and you need to plan how you are going to ask out Joker.”

“Hey!”

She ignores him, “I’ll see you later, I love you.”

Saihara grumbles lightly, smile peaking out, “See you, love you too.” And hangs up, smiling softly at his phone. 

He doesn’t act like anything’s wrong around Ouma. Doesn’t make any note that his feelings have changed. Except in little ways, he’ll return joking flirts instead of changing the topic, he buys Ouma little trinkets that reminded Saihara of him, and he lets his touch linger longer than before. Ouma doesn’t react poorly so Saihara assumes either he doesn’t notice or doesn’t have a problem with where this is going. And Saihara really hopes it’s the latter. 

But he doesn’t find out until a little too late. He’s hanging out at Ouma’s today. Ouma had a potion he wanted to try, it was something he whipped up to help Kitty out, but he needed to see if it worked. He doesn’t say what it does exactly, just that he needs to test it quite a bit. Ouma seems nervous though, he usually isn’t nervous until it starts looking like the potion is having a bad reaction to Saihara. Saihara tries not to think about it too much as he drinks the potion. The effect is immediate as everything goes black around him.

* * *

Saihara blinks but the storm is still raging in front of him. “Evacuate!” He orders his crew. He would try to coordinate better, but someone has to hold onto the helm. His first mate instead organizes the evacuation. The fire on the mast above rages. It’s going to collapse soon, thankfully most of the topmen have gotten down before it caught, though not all were so fortunate. He prays the sea is kind, as he flinches at the thought fiery body he saw fall into the water below. He doesn’t know how the hell this happened. Everything was fine one second and then after their most recent excursion, a storm found them and is destroying his ship in a way most unnatural. It’s something he’s only heard tales of. Seems like those tall tales were more than just stories. 

His crew began to row away from the ship. His first mate calls for him, “Captain! We need to evacuate!” Ever the professional on the topside.

“You go! I need to get the ship away before the wreckage can take all of us with it!” His first mate hesitates, “I gave you an order! Go now while you still can!” 

She nods, “It’s been an honor, sir!” She pauses, “I better see you later!” And she climbs aboard the last raft, cutting the ropes, and rowing far away. 

Saihara doesn’t watch them go, instead, he tries to sail the ship away from his crew. The storm fights him every step of the way. Rain in his eyes, lightning striking around him. But he doesn’t flinch. He presses on, even as the fire begins to spread from the mast to the deck. Even as it crawls ever closer to him, he doesn’t flinch. The ship rocks heavily, thrown around by rough waves. The second mast catches flame. He’s nearly surrounded by fire. It burns an unnatural color. But he doesn’t flinch.

Despite his best efforts, the ship falls out of his control. It keels over, throwing him overboard. He hits the water like a bag of rocks. But he’s quick to surface and watch as a bolt of lightning strikes his ship and it tears into two, sinking below the raging waters. And soon he’s pulled underneath with it. He tries his best, but his back slams into the rocks. His breath is knocked from his lungs and he begins to drown. He tries to fight it a first, but he doesn’t make much leeway.

Then a voice booms around him, telling him to calm down. And Saihara stops struggling, letting himself fall deeper and deeper. The last thing he hears before everything goes black is, “ **_This should be interesting…_ ** ”

* * *

Saihara’s eyes snap open and he begins to hyperventilate. He quickly realizes with dread that he’s still underwater. He  _ drowning _ . He throws frantic glances around the room in an attempt to find an escape. But he’s trapped in a room,  _ filled with water _ . He’s drowning and there's nothing he can do about it. Something moves in front of him and he throws himself backwards, into a wall. His breath catches in his throat. There’s a roaring in his ears. He claws at his face, it feels like he’s dying. But something, no some _ one _ grabs his hands and pulls them from his face. They bring his hands to their chest and breath, Saihara tries to match the pace. Slowly his breathing slows and everything comes back into focus. He sees Ouma’s concerned and guilty expression stare back at him. 

He hears a voice in his head, much like the one he heard that night, “ **_You’re not drowning, not anymore, never any more._ ** ” Vadad Mare. “ **_I’m sorry you had to see that. I usually try to stop my warlocks from remembering their deaths._ ** ” Saihara can only wonder why at it. “ **_It would drive you insane otherwise. I promise, it has always been and will always be solely for your own good._ ** ” And Saihara can’t argue with that, he wants to. But having seen  _ that _ , he understands why. Though another thought hits him, oh god, he’s died. Kitty was right, he was undead.

He meets Ouma’s eyes. He did it on purpose, Saihara can see it in his eyes, Ouma knew the potion would work. That’s why he was so nervous earlier. His voice cracks as Saihara asks, “ _ Why _ ?” 

Ouma tears his eyes away, “I’m sorry. I had to check, I was hoping Kitty was wrong. That it was just because of your job. But…”  _ it wasn’t, _ he doesn’t say. Saihara wants to be mad. He really does. He wants to scream at Ouma, at Vadad Mare, at the world. But no, he can’t. He just can’t. He pulls his hands out of Ouma’s grip gently. “Saihara?”

He doesn’t answer, just teleports away, leaving Ouma sitting on the floor of the potion room, distinctly feeling like he’s fucked up. 

* * *

He shoots Akamatsu a text, “ _ please come over _ ” it’s lacking in his usual punctuation and capitalization, but he quite frankly doesn’t care. Instead, he turns on the trashiest romcom he can before grabbing some chocolate ice cream. Yes, he was going to treat this like a bad breakup. He wasn’t sure how else to treat it. Because really how do you even start to cope with the fact that you died. Not just that, now he can remember everything from his life before fucking dying and now he has to reconcile the fact this wasn’t his life. This wasn’t his home. This wasn’t his family. He has a family. He has an uncle. He had a home. He had a crew. He was a beloved captain. Now he’s just some detective on an island in the middle of nowheresville. 

And more than anything else he can’t do anything about it. This island never existed as far as the rest of the world was concerned. There’s no way for him to go home. He sticks another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, pouting around it. Not even Vadad Mare says anything this time. Thought Missy does whine from her spot from on the floor in front of him. No doubt she would shove her head in his face if it wasn’t for the fact he was eating. 

Soon Akamatsu lets herself in and breathes out, “ _ Oh Shuichi _ ,” as soon as she sees him. She doesn’t ask, just sits down and pulls him into her lap (he doesn’t hesitate to lean back into her), combing her hands through his hair. It’s damp and smells like his conditioner. She doesn’t say anything about it. Just watches the tv with him while he mourns. Though she’s curious she waits and lets Saihara speak when he’s ready.

Eventually, her patience pays off. And Saihara speaks with a whisper, “I died. The whole thing Kitty said was true. I died and was resurrected.” Akamatsu lets it sink in. “I had a life! I had an uncle and a family and a crew! I was a captain! I had a home!” Saihara’s voice hitches and a sob breaks through and Akamatsu feels her heart break. “And now I can’t ever go back. This island doesn’t exist to the rest of the world and in all my time here has the rest of the world ever truly existed as a physical location outside of it.” She puts the ice cream down and pulls Saihara into a tight hug, letting him sob into her shoulder. She doesn’t try to shush him, just lets him cry himself out. He falls asleep like that, she carries him to bed and puts away the ice cream. She presses a kiss to his hair before leaving, trusting Missy to protect him in her stead. 

She can’t be there tomorrow, so instead Harukawa is there cooking breakfast when Saihara wakes up. She makes him eat something and Saihara doesn’t realize how hungry he was until he does. 

She doesn’t ask, already hearing the story from Akamatsu. Instead, she had put out a message that Saihara would be taking a brief break from his detective work and is now here to make sure he takes care of himself. She lets him mourn in silence. Pulling him into a side hug once they’re on the couch. She's not as good at it as Akamatsu, but she tries her best to murmur reassurances into the side of his head. They made the impossible possible every day, they could find a way if Saihara wanted out. Because that’s what friends do. It seems to help at least. She doesn’t let herself be pessimistic, Saihara needs her. And for all the times he’s been there for her, the least she can do is return that kindness now. 

Saihara doesn’t smile, he doesn’t speak, but the hug he gives her before going to bed tells her everything she needs to know. They’ll always have each other’s back. It’s a guarantee. 

The next day finds Shinguji and Momota at Saihara’s door. They rope him into helping out at the diner, pulling Missy with them (Everyone in town loves her and Saihara could use any moral support he’s going to get.) Momota knows better than anyone else that isolating yourself isn’t good. So he doesn’t let him. Everyone already knows not to ask when they see Saihara working. Instead, they give him warm looks and soft squeezes to his arm, hoping that whatever has brought the detective down turns out alright for him. 

Working at the diner also proves to be a good distraction from what he’s lost. His heart still aches. But can muster sad smiles, he still doesn’t speak, but he doesn’t need to. He loses himself in the work, cleaning, cooking, and serving. It feels nice to be moving around and productive. It brightens his spirits some. He feels better after he goes to bed that night. 

The next day has Iruma and Tojo pulling him into helping work on some new projects of theirs. The three of them work a machine to help be able to produce new kinds of potions. While yesterday was a nice use of physical work. Today is magical work. And unlike yesterday, Saihara does help contribute to the banter today. Appreciative of Iruma not treating him like glass because of his mourning. She does hold back some, but for the most part, it’s just regular old Iruma. It’s reassuring to see her acting mostly normal. He doesn’t realize how much he missed what’s become his new normal until now. 

They make good progress on Iruma’s latest invention, just one more day of working on it for Iruma and it’ll be done. Before he leaves to go home, Iruma pulls him into a big hug, ruffling up his hair as she does. “We got you Squirt.” It’s the first time in several days that Saihara laughs, it’s not a big one, but it’s something.

Tojo pulls him into a hug as well, “We’ll see you later.” Saihara can only nod as he holds her back just as fiercely. 

The next day finds Chabashira, Yumeno, and Yonaga there to eat popcorn and ice cream while watching some trashy B-movies. Chabashira pulls him into her side on the couch and the four of them are squished together, all laying each other as they watch. The rag on all the movies, cheering on the villains and booing for the heroes. Unless they particularly like one hero, then they trash talk the villain as if their life depends on it. Missy always barking encouragement with them. Saihara finds the day one filled with smiles and laughter. Content he falls asleep on the couch, surrounded by his three friends. The next day he wakes up feeling refreshed for once in bed. 

The hollow thrum under his chest aches still, but slowly begins to unfurl. He seeks out Hoshi and Gokuhara, the three of them quietly work in the town garden. He takes Missy with him, letting Gokuhara have a go at running around with her. Hoshi doesn’t beat around the bush, “Did Joker cause this?”

Saihara doesn’t want to lie, so he admits, “Yes… he gave me a potion which caused me to remember everything before I washed up here.”

Hoshi nods, “Are you mad at him for it?”

And is he? He searches himself in silence for a while. Hoshi waits patiently, “A little bit.” He sighs, “Like I just wish he told me what he was planning.” 

“Would you have gone along with it if he did?”

Saihara pauses and despite everything, “Yes. I trust him.” He sighs and roughly pulls up another weed, “I just wish he would trust me too.” He regrets it as soon as it is out of his mouth. 

“You don’t mean that.”

“No, no I don’t.”

“Maybe you should talk to him. He probably feels bad for it at least.”

“ I know he does, but…”

“You’re still mad about it.”

“I’m still mad about it.”

They work in silence for the rest of the time. But before Saihara leaves for home Hoshi puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “Think about it, alright kid?”

Saihara nods and pulls Hoshi into a hug, “Thank you.”

“‘Course kid, we’ve got a long way to go, don’t waste your chance while you’ve got it.”

“I won’t.” And Saihara knows he means it. He resolves to talk to Ouma tomorrow. He goes to sleep without a plan for once, instead, he’s going off of his heart. It’s the only way he won’t back out. 

* * *

He should’ve figured he wouldn’t be the only one with the same idea though. Because at his door is Ouma. He’s looking at the floor, only glancing up once the door opens. He’s still in his regular form and damp. Saihara pulls him in and goes to the bathroom to grab towels. The silence is thick enough to be cut by a knife. Ouma quietly thanks him, trying his best to not get water everywhere. 

Saihara leans against the back of the couch. He stares down Ouma at first, but eventually just starts looking around. Then Ouma puts down the towels and Saihara looks back at him. Ouma meets Saihara’s eyes as he begins to speak, “I-” he swallows, “I’m sorry. I know I already said that, but I’m sorry. I should’ve told you the truth. But I didn’t and you had to unexpectedly face  _ that _ by yourself. And for that I’m sorry.” He drops his eyes, “If- if you want me to leave I’d understand.”

“I was- am- mad.” Ouma ducks his head, further curling into himself, “But I don’t what you to go.” Saihara puts his hands on Ouma’s shoulders, “Just-” He brings a hand up to pinch between his eyes, “Just don’t do it again. You know I trust you, right? All I want is next time you have an idea like that tell me, please.”

Ouma picks his head back up, “Of course.”

Saihara squeezes Ouma’s shoulders gently, “Great.” He drops his hands to his sides. They stand in silence, unsure of where they stand with each other anymore. Saihara is quite frankly sick of all the tension surrounding him and everyone else. So he grabs Ouma and pulls him around to sit on the couch together. Giving Ouma no choice as he pulls him close. 

Ouma is tense at first but soon relaxes. Saihara turns the tv on quietly. They watch it together in silence for a while, but eventually, Saihara wants to say something. “I-” Ouma looks up at him, “I’m still not sure how I feel about it.” Ouma tilts his head as if to ask him to go on, “I- gha!” He pulls at his hair with one hand. He doesn’t know where to start. “I was a captain, a beloved one. I had a home and uncle to go back to. I had a crew who I could trust. But I guess not as much as I thought I could.” Ouma tightens his arm around Saihara. Saihara gives him a brief smile. “I didn’t realize it then, but now I know why the storm came. Someone stole something from the sea and it wasn’t happy. And the rest of us were punished for it.” He pauses. “But even then I’m not mad. I don’t think even they realized what it was. I just wish I didn’t have to say goodbye to them.”

Ouma butts his head lightly into the crook of Saihara’s neck, “I doubt anyone would hold that against you.”

Saihara leans his head on Ouma, “No, no they wouldn’t.” Saihara sighs. “You know I never mentioned it to anyone, but…” Saihara looks away, “I guess I was most upset because I had lost someone that day, more than anyone else.” The air is catching in his throat. “I- Me and my first mate were more than just crew, more than family, more than friends. She stood by my side for so long, it feels like it was inevitable what happened next. “

“You were together, together, huh?”

Saihara chuckles wetly, “Yeah, yeah we were. But when everything was falling apart I ordered her to evacuate the ship without me. She told me to come back.” He can’t contain his sob, “ _ God _ , she probably thinks I died! And she wouldn’t be wrong. But there would never be a body to bury.” Saihara hides his face in Ouma’s hair, “No… no, she wouldn’t believe it then. If there’s no body it means I survived. I just can’t get to her. She’s alone and I can never tell her it’s okay.” Ouma pulls Saihara down into a tight hug. “I love her, but we both have to let go. We have no choice. I hate that. More than anything else, I hate that.”

“I’d say that’s pretty fair.” Ouma pulls back just enough to look Saihara in the eyes, “But are you sure you can’t get a hold of her?”

Saihara nods, “I tried. Wherever she is, it’s too far to be reached. All I can do is pray she’s okay, that she finds happiness without me.” He chuckles, “She’s stronger than anyone else I’ve ever known in that life and this one. I know she’ll pull through.”

Ouma nods and pulls Saihara close again, “Just don’t forget about yourself now too.” He combs his fingers through Saihara’s hair, “You deserve to be happy after everything you’ve been through. Now that you know, you can’t let it stop you. I have no doubt from the way you talk about her that she’d want you to find happiness as well, even if it's without her. She seems like a good person.”

“One of the best, you’d like her.”

“I have no doubt about it.”

The two quietly hold onto each other, until they fall asleep on the couch, wrapped in each other’s arms. When they wake up, Saihara feels lighter than he’s ever been since waking up on the island. And Saihara finds it’s nicer than he ever could imagine to wake up next Ouma. Even with everything that’s happened. The ache isn’t gone, but all Saihara can think of what Ouma said. She’d want him to be happy, just like he wants her to be. So when his heart skips a beat as Ouma tightens his arms around Saihara in his sleep, he doesn’t stop either one from happening.

* * *

The two began to hang out again as they used to, but this time a better understanding of each other between them. Saihara finally knew who he was through and through. And there’s the addition to their usual activities by looking into a ship for Saihara, he’s truly missed sailing. He won’t go far, but he’s really missed being on top of the water instead of just below. And sometimes they try to see where in the world the island is. See if maybe there’s a way for them to get a message across, to help close the case for Saihara’s disappearance. Everyone gets involved in trying to help. Saihara doesn’t know if he’s ever seen a more united group of people. 

He has hope that maybe it’ll work, but he doesn’t hold his breath. Besides he can’t just throw away his years here either. Despite everything, the island is his home now. He loves his crew, his family. And he always will. But if they do find the others, he doesn’t think he’ll leave. At least not for long, he’d always come back to the island. To his job. To his friends. To Ouma. It also means though it aches, he’ll be okay if they don’t ever find the others. It’s sad, but it’s not the end of the world. 

But that’s neither here nor there. Instead, Saihara focuses on the present. He’s cooking dinner, Ouma sitting at the table, watching him as usual, Missy curled up by Ouma’s tail, napping. He is silent as he sits, much like the day he revealed his name. However unlike that day Ouma doesn’t seem lost in his thoughts, but rather he seems very aware of what he's doing. Saihara meets his gaze several times, however, Ouma doesn’t look away. But likewise he doesn’t give his usual self-satisfied smile when they meet eyes. But there’s a light curl to his lip, as if he can’t help but smile. And Saihara’s not sure what to make of it, all he knows it has his heart skipping a beat every single time. 

Eventually, the dinner is ready and they sit down to eat. Banter flowing easily as if there was never a silence to begin with. But like earlier there’s an open fondness in Ouma’s eyes. Something he only gets close to seeing when Ouma looks at his family, but also not at the same time. It’s like that look was shifted to the left and it seems less familial and more something else. Something else that he’s hesitant to apply. He doesn’t want to project. But god does a part of him hope. They finish dinner but don’t make a move to stand for several minutes after. Eventually, Saihara stretches and stands, putting the dishes in the sink. He moves to grab a cup from the cabinet, but pauses and turns, prepared to ask if Ouma wanted anything to drink as well.

Only to find him closer than expected. Ouma rests his hands on the counter, blocking Saihara in. Trapped between Ouma and the counter. Saihara rests his hands on the counter behind him. Anxious, not in a fearful way, but rather an expectant one. “Ouma?”

“You know you can call me Kokichi, right?” And that’s the only warning Saihara gets before Ouma kisses him. Saihara freezes for a moment before raising his hands up to the back of Ouma’s neck and tangles it in Ouma’s long hair. Ouma’s hands coming to rest on Saihara’s sides. They pull each other closer and Saihara’s back hits the side of the counter. And it just felt so  _ nice _ . They lose themselves to the sensation of hands on each other’s sides and lips connected together. 

And when Saihara wakes up in his bed, Ouma curled around him, head on his chest Saihara knows peace once more. It’s not the same. Nothing will ever be. But it’s okay. Because even if it’s different, it still means just as much to him. He watches the- his Naga clings to him as if Saihara would disappear if he let go. Saihara smiles sadly and presses a kiss to Ouma’s brow. Thankfully for Ouma Saihara isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. 

And when Ouma whispers, “ _ Mine _ ,” in his sleep. Saihara finds he doesn’t mind being one of Ouma’s treasures. Though Saihara finds some irony that though Naga’s usually protect their treasure in their case it was Saihara protecting Ouma. The treasure protecting its keeper. It’s a convoluted mess that Saihara's came up with during these dawn hours, but how fitting of a mess it is. 

It's the dawn of a new day, but Saihara just sinks back into Ouma’s arms. He can take a lazy day for once. The world can wait up. For now, all is at peace. Saihara lets Ouma’s breathing to lull him back to sleep. He dreams of her smiling, wishing him luck in his new life. One final goodbye to his past. For once it doesn’t hurt. And Saihara smiles in his sleep. 

_ “You’re doing amazing, goodbye Angel. I love you.” _


End file.
